Have you ever taken your child out to the store and they ask for everything? Or how about when the Christmas catalogs start coming and they circle everything inside? Or maybe you have a teenager who thinks life is totally unfair because really, do they need $200 jeans?

At our house we are struggling with the value of a dollar. The “can we get this?” and the “will you get me that?” questions are in full swing. And honestly, the 3DS has made it worse. “For only $7.99 I can download this game.” “Can I have $5 to download this?” “Can I have some money so I can have points?”

In fact, just today we were at WalMart and I got talked into buying a pack of Skylander characters. (Does anyone else’s child have this game? Honestly, the toy company is a genius and mom is an idiot for buying it. Bought the game for $80…but you can’t unlock parts of the game until you buy all the types of Skylanders ($10 each). And then their accessories. Geez. I think we have a mini fortune in Skylanders at our house.)

So I told him, if you earn the money I won’t take them back. I need to get my child to understand the value of $1!

My goals are that I can teach my child:

1. The value of hard work.

2. To save for a rainy day.

3. To give back.

4. Not to spend what you don’t have (Although as with the Skylanders I’m in direct violation of this rule!)

1 – the value of hard work. Chores. This is my deal with chores. I believe that they should be done. I don’t agree with an allowance being paid every week and chores not being done. I want my child to learn, when he works he gets paid. No work = no pay. So we have chores and Josh gets to pick which ones he does and which ones he doesn’t do. He knows how much each one is worth and how much he could possibly earn from it. (See my chore magnets here)

2 – to save for a rainy day. I love the idea of splitting up your child’s finances. The save, spend, share plan. Brilliant. Have goals. Are they saving for long term or for a certain item that they really want? Talk to them and discuss it.

3 – to give back. Chose a charity together. If you are helping an animal shelter make sure your child is the one picking out the treats. If you are dropping of toys make sure they get to pick out the toys. If you are simply donating money make sure your child is the one handing it over. It is theirs! Let them feel good about what they did!

4 – not to spend what you don’t have. Moms (and dads) we are going to have to learn how to say no. No you can not get that today – you don’t have the money. No I will not loan it to you. No you can not be 5 and have a line of credit with the Bank of Mom. Sorry. We can come back later when you have it and get it then. (This one will be tough for me!!!)

There are a TON of great resources out there to help you teach your children about money. One is

Tykoon. It’s a FREE program and a great resource for parents and kids! You sign up (FREE!) and then set up a profile for each of your kid. You enter how much allowance they get OR you can set up tasks for them and an amount they earn for doing each one. You can even set up for them to earn TV time, video game time or to stay up late! The money that they earn is automatically divided up for savings, sharing and spending. On the child’s profile they can chose a charity they want to help, make a wish list of things they want to save for and accept tasks from you. They can set up savings goals and see how much they are earning. It’s pretty cool! If you would like to sign up here is where you can do it! We just started but Josh really likes checking his profile and watching his money add up when he checks a task complete! I like that he can see what he is saving for and pick out his own charity!